Day 1

Reflect on any one situation in your life (so far) where you experienced emotional
outburst.
There was a phase when I felt that my husband was being overcommitted to his sisters
and their family, where very often my daughter and I had to sacrifice our plans and
wants. I was very upset about it.

(a) Identify the emotions that you have experienced and how you expressed those
emotions.
I felt very upset, I felt like marriage was a mistake, I could have lived a better life by
myself rather than always doing things for my inlaws. I did feel like expressing it but I did
not do it, because I realised how important a role they have played in his life as he lost
his father at a very young age.

(b) According to you, what qualities helped you manage the emotional situation?
Being patient, calm and not reacting to a situation in a haste helped me to keep peace.

Day 2

Which school of thought do you identify yourself and why?

I believe in the socio cultural perspective and even in behaviourism.

The socio cultural perspective reinforces the role that people in mentor-like positions
play in shaping who we become. This includes not just parents and teachers but also
community leaders and others we model ourselves after.
Because socio cultural theory also stresses the importance that culture plays in the
process, we have seen how our traditions and customs influence us.

Behaviorism, also because all behaviors are through interaction with the environment.
Because, behavior is simply a response to environmental stimuli.

Day 3

Watch any famous experiment of Psychology and write about how you can relate with
it in present day context?
Based on the The Learned Helplessness Experiment by the American psychologist
we Martin E.P. Seligman, we can see that when being unable to lose weight after making
various dietary or lifestyle changes a person may start to believe that it will never
happen and gives up trying.
Day 4

Career Readiness Check- Is Mental Health the right field for you?
1. Do you work well with others?
To an extent, Although I prefer working myself, I do handle a team and work with
others. I will work upon it more.

2. Are you Highly organized?

Yes, I am highly organised.

3. Are you compassionate?

Yes, I am.

4. Can you reserve judgement?

I do judge people, but I don’t display it. I am working upon being non judgemental.

5. Do you have ways to decompress?

Yes, Shopping helps me to decompress.

Day 5

Read about stages of counselling process and prepare a summary for yourself!

Stages of Counselling
The counselling process is a planned and structured dialogue between client and
counselor.
Hackney and Cormier (2005) propose a five-stage model for defining the counselling
process through which both counselor and client move.

1. Stage one: (Initial disclosure) Relationship building-

The counselling process begins with relationship building. This stage focuses on the
counsellor engaging with the client to explore the issues that directly affect them.
The client reads the counsellor’s verbal and nonverbal signals to draw inferences about
the counsellor and the process. The counsellor should be a good listener and building a
positive relationship to ensure a strong foundation for future discussions and the
counselling process.
2. Stage two: (In-depth exploration) Problem assessment-
The counsellor and client continue to build a beneficial, collaborative relationship. This is
the problem assessment stage. The counsellor carefully listens and collects information
about the client’s situation, his history (life, work, home, education, etc.) and the reason
they have engaged in counselling.

3. Stage three: (Commitment to action) Goal setting-

The goals must be identified and developed collaboratively, with the client committing
to a set of steps leading to a particular outcome. Effective counselling relies on the goals
set.

4. Stage four: Counselling intervention-

This stage varies depending on the counsellor and the situation the client faces. The
theory to be adapted is decided.

5. Stage five: Evaluation, termination, or referral-

Termination may not seem like a stage, but the art of ending the counselling is critical.
Drawing counselling to a close must be planned well in advance to ensure a positive
conclusion is reached while avoiding anger, sadness, or anxiety. Part of the process is to
reach an early agreement on how the therapy will end and what success looks like. This
may lead to a referral if required. While there are clear stages to the typical counselling
process, other than termination, each may be ongoing. For example, while setting goals,
new information or understanding may surface that requires additional assessment of
the problem.

Day 6

When you meet someone for the first time, what attributes help you feel close to
them?

Some of the attributes I would consider are :

How well the person presents himself/herself – neat, decently dressed

Intelligence - I try to gauge their intelligence level to see if we could have a decent
conversation.

Open-minded - Nothing like trying to interact with a close-minded individual. It’s so

frustrating.
Calm - If someone is constantly way too loud and over-excited, it becomes exhausting.

Hobbies in common - It’s always a bonus if we have similar likes and tastes.

If you had to design your therapy room, how would you do it?

My therapy room would be white and more of glass used wherever possible. I would
add some flower arrangements and plants. Yellow lights. Very less furniture with a
comfortable lounge with a beautiful view.

Day 7

Maintain a journal and note how often you make judgements! Record your
judgements for the cases discussed in class.

I was judgemental about people earlier. But I have been working upon it and have
reduced it to quite an extent now.

Day 8
What’s your motivation to become a counsellor?
I want to become a counselor primarily because my husband is going through this
terrible phase of fear and insecurity past 4 years. He is on medication and has been
doing counselling sessions too. He has tried homeopathy, ayurveda, barch flower, and
many things. I feel very helpless when he is low , so if I have some knowledge I can help
him.

Secondly, this will help me to be a good parent as well.

Thirdly, I plan to take up a career counseling course so this course may help me to
understand a child better.

Day 9
Try being mindful of how actively do you listen and how much your mind wanders
during conversations. Make a record summary.
If the topic of conversation interests me, I hear it with full concentration but if the topic
is about gossiping or belittling someone my mind immediately starts to wander and I
start planning my work in my mind.

Day 10
How will you like to introduce yourself to the client in the first session?

Hello! Before we start today, let me share with you a little bit about me. I’m your
counsellor Prachi Shah. I am a mental health professional. I help people heal, build
resilience and live more fulfilling lives. I offer my expertise in situations where good
health care is involved paying attention not only to physical health, but also to habits,
behaviors and emotions. I offer a compassionate and supportive counseling service to
individuals, couples and families. I provide a safe environment for exploring difficulties,
finding new ways of coping, and making changes.

My job as a counselor is to help you be more successful at targeting any problems that
have come up for you at this point.

Day 11

I am not practicing yet, so I do not have an idea about it.

Day 12
Omani is a 27 year old female living in Jakarta, Indonesia. She is a digital marketing
analyst who has been working for last six years since her college. She has come to
counselling with the prime concern that she feels emotionally numb and that she
wants to be independent. Her friends and family complain that she keeps pushing
people away. She lost her father a year ago who was her closest friend and her mother
is living away. She grew witnessing a divorce where her parents mutually separated
and she also has a younger sister. Her mother has schizophrenia as diagnosed by the
family therapist. She drinks and also smokes regularly. She wants to change herself
and is looking for some guidance in her life.
Prepare a short case history of the case mentioned here.

History:
Name: Omani
Age: 27 yrs
City : Jakarta
Work: working since 6 years as a digital marketing analyst
Parents: Divorcees
Father expired a year ago, was very close to her father
Sibling: 1 younger sister
Mother lives away and has schizophrenia
Drinks and also smokes regularly

Day 13
How will you like to introduce yourself to the clients?
Hello! Before we start today, let me share with you a little bit about me. I’m your
counsellor Prachi Shah. I am a mental health professional. I help people heal, build
resilience and live more fulfilling lives. I offer my expertise in situations where good
health care is involved paying attention not only to physical health, but also to habits,
behaviors and emotions. I offer a compassionate and supportive counseling service to
individuals, couples and families. I provide a safe environment for exploring difficulties,
finding new ways of coping, and making changes.

My job as a counselor is to help you be more successful at targeting any problems that
have come up for you at this point.

Day 14
As a counsellor/therapist how will you initiate you first session with the client? Make a
small note about it.
I will briefly introduce myself. I will ensure that the client is comfortable. I will make him
believe that he can open upto me freely and whatever we discuss shall be kept
confidential. Then, I will start the main conversation. “I would like to get a snapshot of
your life; what’s working well and what’s not working so well. Before you leave today,
we’ll take the information you have given me and together we’ll come up with a set of
recommendations that seem doable.

The recommendations might be things you try on your own like reading some self-help
material and practicing various kinds of skills on your own. This whole exercise will be a
joint venture of you and me. After this, we may decide to have you come back to see me
a couple of times if we think we can develop some positive momentum on specific skills
by doing so. We might also decide that you would benefit from seeing a more intensive
specialty service. If that’s the case, I will arrange that referral using the information you
have given me today. “
I strongly believe that counseling is an art of healing and wholeness. And I’m very sure
that together, we can make wonders.

Day 15
Jacob a 17 yr old adolescent, male, comes to you for counselling with concerns of low
self esteem and self confidence. He lives in Bucharest, Romania and complains that he
is lazy and unable to work out which is causing him mental health concerns. He lives in
a nuclear family with his parents. He loves making digital art and playing games on
Xbox. He is a foodie but he wants to change himself and switch to a healthier lifestyle.
There is no complains of any medical or psychological illness so far. He is in college and
studying art. He is an ambivert by personality and likes to stay in his room mostly. He
likes to connect with his friends virtually. He has just gotten into a relationship with an
American woman and it’s a long distance relationship. Plan an intervention for Jacob
mentioning his case history and suggested treatment plan. Also make a note for his
first counselling session.

Case History
Name: Jacob
Age: 17 years
Resides in Bucharest, Romania
Nuclear family, lives with parents
Hobboes : Digital Art and playing games on XBox
Studying art, Foodie, ambivert, prefers staying in his room mostly and connets with
friends virtually, just got into a long distance relationship with an American.

no complains of any medical or psychological illness so far

concerns of low self esteem and self confidence

Goal
He wants to change himself and switch to a healthier lifestyle
Wants to improve his self esteem and self confidence

Intervention
Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy
Client-Centered Counseling

Notes for first counselling session:

Points of discussion

1. Case history and need for counselling

2. Counselling Agreement, treatment line up
3. Cost
4. Modality of counselling
5. Limitations
6. Time boundaries

Day 16

Your mission this week is to think of someone professionally (or personally) that you
can use some empathic confrontation. Make a note how you will do it.
A couple of days back my client called up and was very upset with the delay in his work,
this was just 3-4 days after we discussed empathetic confrontation in class. His website
had to go live almost 10 days back but my programmer somehow kept delaying it. I
recollected what we discussed in class and applied it here. So I had this conversation
with him:
“I understand how frustrating it must be to wait this long for your website to go live.
If I were in your position, I would be upset too. I'm so glad you mentioned it to me. I will
get it fixed. Your patience here has been so important. After such a long wait, anyone
would be frustrated. My mistake has cost you a lot of time and money. Let me make it
right. I will ensure your work is done today itself.”

Customer is the king so it is always good to empathise and that’s what I did. Fortunately
he calmed down immediately and I too ensured that his work was done the same day.

Day17
Read about Cognitive behaviour therapy in-depth and try to prepare a small
intervention for any of the discussed cases.

Day 18
How will you console a client crying in the session? Reflect and make a note about it.
I, understand that crying is an emotion that should not be suppressed. I would let my
client vent it out rather than letting it build inside. As that would cause lot of difficulties
which may show up or may be not even show up but harm internally.
I would try to make the situation normal and validate the response. I would
compassionately say that state that crying is a normal reaction. I will make it clear to the
client know that it's okay to cry and that there is no need to hold back the tears.
Day 20

Case study

Vaani, a 24 yr old female, who is a very emotional person, has approached you for
counselling and therapy. She is from Amritsar, India. She feels lonely and sad. She
cries on little thing and has binge eating patterns. She has a negative body image and
feels she is a failure in life. She is over thinking all the time about the body shaming
incidents that happened with her. She is preparing for UPSC and has been a topper
academically. Her both past relationships were toxic to a level that she ended with
low self esteem and confidence. Her mother passed away in an accident when she was
13 yrs old. She has a good relationship with her father and she has two best friends.
She wants to be a confident person and build a healthy lifestyle so that she can focus
on her preparations.

Plan an intervention for her with a session wise break up of the goals to be taken in
counselling and therapy.

1. PROBLEMS & WEAKNESSES:

Feels Lonely and Sad

Cries over little things
Binge eating
Over thinking
Negative body image and body shaming
Trauma of losing mother
Toxic past relationships
Low self esteem and confidence

2. STRENGTHS:
Has been a topper academically.

3. GOALS:
Wants to be a confident person and build a healthy lifestyle so that she can focus on her
preparations

4. STRATEGIES OR INTERVENTIONS:
Share methods to cope loneliness and sadness
Understand habits
Gather more information about the emotions, situations, or thoughts that can trigger
crying, eating
Positive talking
Exercise
Relaxation

5. TYPE OF COUNSELING:
Individual Counseling two times weekly for the coming one month.
CBT

6. METHODS USED / RECOMMENDATIONS ON HOW TO RESOLVE THE PROBLEM:

I will use the following methods depending on the comfort of the client.

Lonely and sad

 Invite someone to spend time with you
 Connect with old friends
 Connect with new people
 Find an online forum find people with similar interests, problems, and goals
 Learn something new whether it’s a new language or a new skill
 Engage in a hobby
 Perform an act of kindness
Binge eating

 Start an emotion diary

 Find other ways to cope
 Move your body
 Try mindfulness

Crying

 Don’t fight the urge to cry

 Seek out an opposite action
 Take deep breaths

Body shaming and incidents that happened

Body positivity is a time-consuming process. There is no denying the fact that people
change. But they don’t change overnight.

 Self-affirmations
  Exercise no matter what
 Understand the difference between unhealthy and “unappealing”
 There’s more to life than your looks
 Fight hate with love
 Always be honest

Low self esteem and confidence

 Recognise what you're good at

 Build positive relationships
 Be kind to yourself
 Learn to be assertive
 Give yourself a challenge
 Avoid a toxic environment

Trauma of losing a parent and end of toxic relationships

 Let the client vent out her emotions

 Lifestyle change